Nicotine addiction can be defeated, but not by being stronger. We can be stronger MOST of the time, but not ALL of the time. That's what I mean by we have to be smarter.Way to go Dave: 5gold / 31 anniv. / 55y

Last edited by JoeJFree Gold on June 22nd, 2009, 5:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.

We will never be stronger than nicotine nor do we have to be.
It is our ability as humans to reason that allows us to overcome urges to reach for a cigarette for relief from cravings or to recognize that we are thinking of a cigarette because we are experiencing something we associate with nicotine consumption. There are many triggers to overcome in the beginning.

We overcome our addiction not by will power but by being smarter. Not by being smarter than nicotine, but by being smarter than we were before we found this website. Quit with your brain it is much easier than quitting with your brawn.

According to a 1990 study, what percentage of quitters who lapse and sneak just one "taste," or one little puff, will thereafter experience full relapse and complete failure?

A. 93%
B. 73%
C. 53%
D. 33%
E. 13%

The correct response is A. The study was entitled Borland, R, Slip-Ups and Relapse in Attempts to Quit Smoking, Addictive Behaviors, 1990, Vol. 15, pp. 235-245. Among 339 quitters who tasted tobacco, including those who were unsuccessful in not smoking for even one full day, 314 would experience full and complete relapse.

Saw where a new member was not sure if they were strong enough to maintain thier quit. Well, in honor of Dave's recent 6xGold post I thought it would be better to let 'ol Hillbilly Dave explain why it is our smarts - not our strength - that makes the difference in effectively controlling our addictive relatonship with nicotine.

Thank you for posting this string again JoeJFree... it is some of the best advice gleaned from the rational approach to quitting.

Recently, on the eve of green, I was convinced quitting was too difficult for me, that I was not "strong" enough... but I stuck it out, reminding myself that "that is addiction talking, not you". I kept telling myself that, and forced myself to wait it out; and, within 24 hours, the addict's thoughts backed off. I won that battle by being "smart". It was hard, because the addiction IS stronger, but addiction turned out to be no match for reason. What's more: I have had great days ever since that battle! As though the addiction has given up trying to get the better of me, or I have gained hope since getting the better of my addiction...

Hi Joe
Just wanted to echo llona, battling addiction is like David versus Goliath. We can't win on strength, but we can win by smarts .

Joanna - Free and Healing for One Month, Twenty Two Days, 23 Hours and 6 Minutes, while extending my life expectancy 3 Days and 17 Hours, by avoiding the use of 1079 nicotine delivery devices that would have cost me $262.30.

I hear in some posts that little voice in out heads giving us messages. Don't pretend the voice doesn't exist, just acknowledge it and remind yourself of what you are doing. You did not initially take control of your addiction by being stronger than nicotine, you did it by being smarter than nicotine. Your little voices know how to get around an prey on your weaknesses. Those voices can only gather strength when you lose your resolve and you will only lose your resolve when you lose your focus. But they can never get around you when you are prepared and mentally ready for them. You will get stronger and more secure as long as you stay smarter. You will also stay stronger if you constantly reaffirm your desire to say free and keep reinforcing your ammunition and resolve. Remember smoking for what it was, appreciate your freedom for what it is. Keep doing this and you will be happy to never take another puff!Joel

I know I just had this one up a couple of days ago, but it really is an important one. So many people lose quits because they really miss the importance of this one. Keeping them to show you are stronger is a pretty strong sign that you don't appreciate just how strong the addiction is. You won't win this battle by being stronger than nicotine, you will win it by being smarter than nicotine.If you keep them around to help in case of emergency, you are still looking at cigarettes as good things with mystical qualities of helping in crisis. As many have said here before, a relapse does not help any crisis, it is a crisis in its own right, one that in almost every case is bigger than the one leading you to take the cigarette. Because the crisis of a relapse can eventually take your health and then take your life.Stay focused on the fact that you are quitting because you want to, because you want to live a long and healthy life. To accomplish both goals always remember to never take another puff!Joel

Wasn't sure where to post this but you be the judge as to whether the guy concerned is stronger or smarter (or should have visited Freedom & WhyQuit and saved himself a lot of effort).

This is from a UK daily paper and abridged by me.

"MAROONED.... SO I CAN CAST AWAY CIGARETTES

A millionaire has become a castaway on an island to try & quit smoking. Geoff Spice landed on uninhabitated Scottish island and will live there for a month. The longest he quit before is 9 days. He's got 180 cans of food and bottled water "This is my last chance. I can crack the habit" said Mr Spice of Surrey"

He's certainly not much smarter than nicotine, MB
How can we meet, greet and extinguish nicotine use cue conditioning when we hide from our triggers? The smoking relapse rate for inmates upon release from prison, after having been forced to stop smoking upon arrest and imprisonment, is 97% within 6 months (see Tuthill RW et al, "Does involuntary cigarette smoking abstinence among inmates during correctional incarceration result in continued abstinence post release?" (poster). 26th National Conference on Correctional Health Care, Nashville, Tennessee, October 21, 2002).
While both our island friend and prison inmates do extinguish life's most basic use cues (living, breathing, eating, stress) what happens the first time they see their old smoking buddy, walk into the store where they used to purchase their smokes or socialize with friends or drink alcohol?

Recovery is about taking back life one slice at a time. Don't run from recovery but embrace it! There's a reward at the end of each challenge, the return of another aspect of life. Still one rule ... none today!

Totally agree! But if he makes his next quit via FFN then he'll gain the wisdom and insights necessary. Of couse I wsh him luck in his endeavours - but it will only ever be luck whereas the NTAP route is to me about storing up the education for difficilt times.

mb wrote: ...the NTAP route is to me about storing up the education for difficilt times.

Thank-you. I have been trying to put into words why investing in education was so important to my quit and you just expressed it perfectly. All the education set me up to get through the handful of rough patches. It's like canning vegetables in the summer time to have on the shelf when you are hungry in the winter.

I would also add that the education part plays a big role in seeing nicotine addiction clearly and honestly which, in turn, dulls any desire to smoke.

Education is the key to my quit, it has nothing to do with strength, willpower, determination, or anything else. It boils down to knowing the law of addiction (!!!) and what to expect during withdraw (so you can cope with it without "freaking out"). That's it in a nutshell.

I still hear people talk about how they've got an "addictive personality" or they "really like smoking" or they must be "more addicted than I was" or how they can't quit because their cravings are so unbearable... and then there are those whose method of quitting involves "cutting down" or still having one from time to time (anytime I hear that, I know it won't work - I'd bet good money, too) ...

Well, that all boils down to lack of knowledge. An educated quit is a relatively easy quit. An uneducated quit is much harder and has far fewer chances of success.